We regret to inform you that Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has passed away at age 55.

Iwata started off his career in the video game world in the Early 80s working for Nintendo’s own HAL Laboratory working on popular games such as Earthbound, Balloon Fight, and the original Kirby. During his time at HAL, he eventually became their President in 1993 and in 2000 became a Director for Nintendo before becoming only the 4th President of Nintendo in 2002.

Iwata became the CEO of Nintendo of America in 2013 and has battled health problems the past couple of years. He missed last year’s E3 due to surgery to remove a tumor from his digestive system. Iwata passed away late last night as a result of his illness.

Nintendo announced Iwata’s passing in a very short statement on social media today. “Nintendo Co., Ltd. deeply regrets to announce that President Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015 due to a bile duct growth,” the statement said.

Our deepest sympathies go out to Iwata’s friends and family, as well as his colleagues at Nintendo.